Kikuko Kimura

Outdoor living enthusiast

Outdoor girl finds kawaii in a sleeping bag.

“I love the outdoors. Nearly every weekend, I climb mountains. If I don’t, I go camping instead. During my days off, I hardly ever stay home,” Ms. Kimura the “outdoor girl” explains. “The real thrill of outdoor activities is learning to be grateful for food, clothing, and shelter. There’s no electricity, so clothing is the only way to stay warm. When you can feel that you are alive, it gets you energized.” Colorful fashion is indispensable to this outdoor girl. Part of the outdoor spirit is trying different types of color coordination that wouldn’t occur in everyday life. In this way, the outdoor life is rather like cosplay, she jokes. Ms. Kimura thinks kawaii is “the moment when something right in front of you inspires you to imagine how you’d feel using it.” For example, very recently, when she purchased a sleeping bag for -27°C temperatures, she could imagine precisely how she could sleep in it, deep in the mountains.